


Look Like the Innocent Flower, but Be the Serpent Underneath

by chaotic_scrittore1317



Series: Children (Warriors) With Blood On Their Hands [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula Killed Ozai, Child Azula (Avatar), Child Zuko (Avatar), Crazy Azula (Avatar), Dark Mai, Dark Ty Lee, Family Issues, Fire Nation Royal Family, Firelord Iroh (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Minor Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Protective Azula (Avatar), Protective Iroh (Avatar), Torture, Violence, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:01:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaotic_scrittore1317/pseuds/chaotic_scrittore1317
Summary: Fire Lord Ozai died while Prince Zuko was still in recovery.The investigation was relentless, but the killer was never found.Until the new Fire Lord Iroh, (in a mournful tone that only some believed) put a stop to it.There were rumors of foul play on his end.No one dared to speak them.What they didn't know...“You’re safe now, Zuzu. I took care of it.”No other words were exchanged in the room that day.Azula was eleven years old, and cleverer than anyone in the palace, with friends as protective, and as dangerous as her.And Iroh had never seen eye to eye with his niece, but he at least understood this.Zuko asked about his father only once.Azula lied.Inspired by @blueskittlesart and @heavenly-dusk ‘s works on Tumblr
Relationships: Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Series: Children (Warriors) With Blood On Their Hands [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993552
Comments: 22
Kudos: 338





	1. Iroh

Fan took a step back to examine the corpse thoughtfully.

The slight sound of her long dress sliding on the floor was the only thing disturbing the silence around her.

The room she was in was windowless, empty except for the long table on which the corpse sat, lit by the strangely cadaverous light of the candles.

Exhaling slowly through her mouth so as not to breathe the smell of death, she leaned over the corpse and ran her hand over it without touching it.

Nothingat all. Absolutely no warmth in the tissue.

Yes, he was indeed dead.

As dead as a day before, when she had been called for an emergency.

She was helping a childbirth when the guards had came looking for her and practically dragged her across the palace to the royal apartments.

Fan surely would have protested - she was the royal healer, after all - if she hadn't seen the body lying on the bed in a pool of blood.

All it took her was a simple bending movement above his head to confirm it.

Fire Lord Ozai was dead.

And since then, the entire Fire Nation - no, the whole world perhaps - had been buzzing with rumors about what had happened.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to come back to reality. Speculations were not for her. She had more important things to do.

With an expert glance, she examined Ozai's body once again, and nodded, satisfied.

She leaned over to jot her remarks on her observation sheet with a quick brushstroke, being careful not to smudge herself with ink.

Death dated back to twenty-four hours or more, she could testify it. There were no noticeable burns or ash on Ozai's skin or clothing. Whoever did that wasn't a firebender, or they didn't use their bending at all. Also no signs of freezing on any parts of the body, so not a waterbender. There were also no bruises or injuries from the time of death other than the one that caused it.

Sighing, Fan put aside her observation sheet and grabbed a thin, sharp knife in her instruments.

A flame burst from her fingertips and she ran it across the blade several times. She always sterilized her instruments before starting her autopsies, but better twice than once.

Then, she leaned over the body and used the scalpel to examine the edges and interior of the gigantic wound in the center of Ozai's torso.

The person who killed Ozai had stabbed him several times in the chest, probably while he was sleeping. It had not been done with a lot of strength, but with great precision and determination. The killer had struck more than twenty times, continuing probably even when Ozai had stopped moving and the wound had become definitively fatal.

Fan didn't know if she felt pity for the ex-Fire Lord.

Then she remembered the Agni Kai that had taken place a few days ago and frowned. No, definitely not.

A timid scratch at the door made her turn her head and a guard poked his head into the doorway.

He froze when he saw the corpse of Fire Lord Ozai.

She placed her bloody scalpel on the tray provided for this purpose and removed the mask she wore over her mouth. Seeing that the guard was still staring at Ozai's dead body, eyes wide, she asked impatiently:

\- Yes ?

He jumped and looked back at her.

\- Really sorry to bother you, my lady ... but you asked me to let you know when it would be time for...

Fan snapped her fingers as she remembered what she had to do.

\- Yes, of course !

Grabbing the white sheet at Ozai's feet, she pulled it down to hide the corpse, and, after picking up her satchel from the floor, walked out, motioning the guard to hurry.

Unlike her next patient, Ozai could wait.

Escorted by the guard, she crossed the palace quickly, until arriving in an older and isolated wing.

She stopped in front of the door of a small bedroom and knocked softly.

A tired voice answered him.

\- Come in.

The door creaked a bit as she opened it, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to get used to the darkness of the room.

In the bedroom, the curtains were drawn, and an old man with gray hair was kneeling beside a low bed, on which Prince Zuko slept, one eye bandaged.

Fan entered and sat on the floor on the other side of the bed, and bowed low to the old man.

\- Fire Lord Iroh.

He did not take his eyes off the Prince, and replied in a hoarse voice:

\- The Fire Sages have not yet confirmed who will succeed my brother.

Fan shrugged as she pulled out what she needed from her satchel.

\- It's just a matter of time.

She thought she saw him tensing a bit as she lit a candle with a flame on the tip of her finger, but it was probably only the shadows on his face. He had never looked so old and tired.

She leaned over the Prince, in the same position as a few minutes before, when she was examining his father's corpse.

Except that fortunately, Zuko was breathing softly, his features relaxed thanks to sleep, and was not frozen for eternity in a deadly stiffness.

She wondered for a second if anyone had told him about his father.

She brushed the thought aside and gently removed Zuko's bandage. Then she let her fire run over her hands, destroying anything that could infect the Prince's burn. She picked up the small pot of ointment lying beside her and opened it, releasing a strong scent of ecalyptus into the room.

She took some of it on her fingertips and began to spread it around Zuko's eye, being careful not to press too hard so as not to hurt him.

When she was done, she put a clean bandage on his eye and sat back on her heels, brushing away a strand of hair that had fell in front of her eyes.

Closing her eyes, she put her hand on Zuko's forehead and breathed in and out in rhythm with him, concentrating on cooling down his body to make his fever go away.

She opened her eyes again and asked Iroh, who was silently watching her heal his nephew :

\- Did he have any other nightmares?

Iroh just nodded and she sighed.

The Prince was extremely lucky that she was there. She knew that after the Agni Kai, the Fire Lord Ozai had planned to banish him, and with a wound this size and without regular care, Zuko would surely have ended up with a scar twice as bad as the one he was going to have.

But spirits be thanked, Ozai was dead, and he hadn't had time to banish him - and again, Fan wondered, what kind of man burns a thirteen year old boy ? What kind of man burns his own son ?

(She already had the answer: a monster.)

Hands clasped around her small cast iron kettle, she heated the water it contained until it boiled, and poured it into a cup, along with a handful of leaves.

Lifting Zuko's head, she gave him a few sips, then poured another cup, which she handed to Iroh.

\- Drink, you will feel better.

He did not move to accept the cup, and she sighed.

\- It's Jasmine tea. It will give you enough strength to stay at his bedside until he wakes up.

She rolled her eyes as he immediately agreed. He took a sip, and looked up at her.

\- You are very young, for a royal healer. I don't remember seeing you before.

Fan tensed a bit.

\- You probably remember Li Wei, I was his apprentice. But he retired last year, and I've replaced him since.

Iroh's gaze fell on Fan's hands, and she thanked Agni that she had no blood on them.

\- There aren't many people like you and Li Wei.

Another question in disguise.  
\- Healing is a very unique talent, and even more rare among firebenders than among waterbenders. It takes concentration and work.

Iroh hummed in response, and Fan saw that he had returned his attention to Zuko, who was still sleeping.

Taking this as a sign that the discussion was over, she gathered her things in her satchel.

\- Make him drink more tea, and call me if his condition deteriorates.

She bowed low and stood up.

\- Fire Lord Iroh.

As she left, Fan noticed that this time he hadn't denied his title.

***

Iroh watched the healer walk out, her long red robes swirling behind her.

He looked down at sleeping Zuko and reached out to stroke his hair and check the temperature of his forehead.

Zuko moaned in his sleep and shifted a little. He leaned back against his hand as if he needed his touch, and something tightened in Iroh's chest.

Zuko looked so much like Lu Ten, asleep like that, but at the same time... he was so different. The bandage that hid half of his face and the blatant lack of affection he had received in recent years was proof of that. He had suffered so much.

Iroh hated himself for not intervening sooner. But the Agni Kai had been the last straw.

And now Ozai was dead.

He thought back to the title the young healer had given him. Fire Lord.

Soon he would ascend the throne, and he would be able to erase the banishment of Zuko planned by his father.

There would also be an investigation to find Ozai's killer. He would have to take care of that too. There would surely be rumors, people saying that he had something to do with his brother's death, but no one would dare say them out loud.

They would be wrong, anyway.

What they didn't know was that Iroh hadn't killed Ozai. Someone else had done it.

A day before, he had been sitting by his sleeping nephew's bedside, letting tears silently flow down his face as Zuko let out small moans of pain with every movement. He couldn't even look at his bandage without shaking and blaming himself.

The door had creaked as it opened, and Azula had entered, lit only by torchlight from the hallway.

She was perfect, as always, not a hair out of place, if not for the large splash of still-wet blood that smeared the front of her dress.

She had crossed the room, her eyes fixed on Zuko's unconscious body, as if in a trance.

She had cooed to her brother, while completely ignoring Iroh :

\- You are safe now, Zuzu. I took care of it.

And she had came out without saying another word. An hour later, a panicked guard had came to inform Iroh that Fire Lord Ozai had been assassinated. And he had understood.

Because he might not understand Azula - and Ursa, and his mother - but Iroh could recognize a born killer, or at least a true warrior, when he saw one.

And there was that dangerous spark in Azula's gaze, who told Iroh that she was ready to do anything to protect Zuko. She was only eleven, but she was cleverer than anyone else in the palace, with friends as protective and dangerous as she was - he had seen the knives hidden in Ukano's daughter's sleeves, and the way the last of the Ty sisters was moving, as if she wasn't really touching the ground.

So he decided not to say anything, because Ozai deserved this ending, because he didn't want Azula and Zuko to end up like him and his brother.

He noted, however, not to give Azula any more dolls on her birthday.

Zuko moved and mumbled something incomprehensible in his sleep, and Iroh stroked his hair to calm him down.

He didn't want him to wake up screaming from one of his nightmares like he had done several times before.

Remembering the healer's recommendation, he brought a cup of tea to Zuko's lips and gave him sips, still stroking his hair.

Zuko coughed a little, and barely opened his intact eye. Disoriented, he asked in a weak, husky voice:

\- Un-uncle? Where am I ?

Hushing him repeatedly and quietly to calm him down, Iroh closed his eyes and wondered what his family had done to get there.

A scarred son, a parricidal daughter, an abusive and now murdered father, a missing mother, a dead cousin, a poisoned grandfather, and a broken uncle.

And now it was up to him to fix it. Azula had made it easier for him, but she had also done enough, he decided.

Opening his eyes, he stroked Zuko's hair, repeating Azula's words:

\- Shhhh, you're safe now.

***

Fan stood a bit away from the nobles, watching the new Fire Lord Iroh, on the platform surrounded by a wall of flame.

His face was closed, and he had never worn his nickname of Dragon of the West better.

It seemed like he had accepted his title, after all.

There had been an investigation to find Ozai's killer. People wanted revenge. Fan had been questioned over and over again dozens of times, always the same questions ( _what were you doing on the night of the murder, what can you tell us about the murder and the killer, do you know someone who could match this profile..._ ) until being totally cleared.

Then the young officer leading the investigation - no older than her, and Fan wondered who he had upset to be sent on a case where he was so likely to fail - had bowed before her and had pleaded for her help, as a medical examiner.

Haruko, his name was, and Fan, had together interrogated everyone in the palace, from servants to ministers, and had sent entire battalions of soldiers throughout the Fire Nation to search for a potential assassin who would have snuck in the palace despite the guards.

She had spent entire days in the palace dungeons, trying to get to confess people who all had too many secrets (even the Fire Lord - only Princess Azula's interrogation had gone smoothly, with her telling them everything they wanted to know).

Without success.

The investigation was relentless, but the killer was never found.

Until the new Fire Lord Iroh, (in a mournful tone that only some believed) had put an end to it.

There were rumors of foul play on his end.

No one dared to speak them.

In the shadow of a column, Fan watched as the Fire Lord spoke about the end of the investigation, and Prince Zuko's recovery, his face grimly lit by the flames.

Fan's fingertips tingled as she thought back to his scar and the nightmares he continued to have.

He should have been on the platform, sitting behind Iroh like his sister was.

She tensed as she felt a warmth next to her, but it was only Haruko who stopped beside her.

Unlike her, he gazed at all the nobles and soldiers ranged before the Fire Lord, on the lookout for danger.

He brushed her arm and jerked his chin to show her something.

\- Look.

A few steps away, hidden behind a pillar like them, were Mai and Ty Lee - and Fan thanked the interrogations for having made her memorize the first names of all the Fire Nation nobles - who were also staring at the dais.

Mai looked bored, the same look she had worn throughout her interrogation, and was playing with a knife absently. Ty Lee was hopping a bit nervously, but had a fascinated look that did not leave her round face and large, clear eyes.

However, both of them, like Haruko, weren't looking at Iroh, but did not take their eyes off Princess Azula, who was kneeling behind him.

Fan and Haruko silently exchanged a worried look full of unspoken words.

In the light of the wall of flames, the guards in the skull-like helmets looked grim, almost scarry. 

On the platform, Azula was the very image of serenity, her hands resting on her thighs and menacing shadows cast by the moving flames on her child's face.


	2. Mai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the feedback on the first chapter ! I'm so sorry, it took me so much time to update, I wrote almost all the rest of this story but I don't know why, I blocked on this part. Enjoy !

Mai had always been suspicious of Azula.

She only played with her because she was the Princess and it was more trouble than it was worth to say no to her.

From her first day at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, she had known that it was best to do what Azula wanted to be left in peace.

It didn't bother her more than that - no, it bothered her, deep inside her, but she was used to being told what to do.  
Be the perfect daughter, don't cause problems, be friends with the right people, and most of all, do not shame your family. That's what her mother had told her ever since she was little. Her father said nothing, but his looks were sufficient.

When she was still just a child, easily impressionable, her mother told her the stories of the Kemurikages, a group of spirits who, on the darkest nights, came down from the mountains to take children who behaved badly. Her mother's words, whispered in a soft voice as she brushed her hair, echoed in her ears on stormy nights, when the wind blew fiercely outside and she hid in her closet, making herself as small as possible, terrified that the spirits would come to take her.

Growing up, she had realized that it was just fairy tales to make children stay good, but that didn't stop the Kemurikage's twisted mask from appearing in her nightmares every now and then.  
It always took her a few seconds when she woke up to realize where she was, and she remained half-up in her bed, sweaty and panting, until the rays of the sun lit up her room and she finally was able to put back her mask of boredom. In comparison, following Azula was not that complicated.

However, she liked Zuko. He was awkward, with an almost dangerous curiosity, and his emotions read on his face like in an open book, but he was also kind, and the devotion and love with which he looked at his mother gave rise to a strange feeling of longing in Mai's chest.

She had almost been sad for him when Fire Lord Azulon had died and Lady Azula had disappeared. He had looked so destroyed, in the days that followed, and Azula's constant mockery only made it worse.

Despite this, it had been much easier to follow Azula when Mai had realized that the dangerous spark in her eyes would never turn on Zuko.

And then Fire Lord had Ozai died.

And Mai wasn't stupid enough not to understand what had happened, especially when she found one of her knives, mysteriously missing, cleaned up and resting on her pillow.

The whole court had attended the Agni Kai, and heard the pleading, then painful cries of Prince Zuko. Mai, for the first time in years, had dropped her mask for a few seconds and squeezed Ty Lee's hand so hard that her knuckles had turned white. Beside them, Azula's anger had been a blaze, thunderous and loud in the heat of the moment. Then she had calmed down - the calm before the storm, too dangerous - and, like Mai, she had put her mask back on.

When the young commander, Haruko, and the healer, Fan, had started asking questions and investigating Ozai's death, Mai had gone find Ty Lee. They had sat by the turtleducks pond, in the garden that looked too empty without Azula and Zuko, and Mai had admitted:

\- It might not be bad to follow Azula.

\- Wow, wow, Ty Lee had gasped, I've never heard you say that before !

Her eyes had widened, in that expression that produced a funny feeling in Mai's stomach (the kind of feeling she thought about in the late hours of the night, lying wide awake and throwing knives at the wall of her bedroom, the kind of feeling that looked like butterflies wings flapping madly).

And Ty Lee, sweet and happy Ty Lee, had nodded solemnly when Mai had said, for any explanation:

\- She did what she had to do, for Prince Zuko. I can respect that.

After that, life had improved, more or less. Iroh had become Fire Lord, and Azula had asked Mai to be part of her personal Princess entourage, as a companion. A weight she hadn't realized was here had went away when Mai had understood that it meant she wasn't really dependent of her parents anymore. She had felt like the corset around her chest was loosened a little bit, just enough to allow her to breathe a little easier.

That did not prevent her from observing sometimes from afar Azula, Ty Lee and Zuko, who were laughing together, and from wanting to let out the storm which was unleashing in her chest. She felt so trapped, sometimes, that she couldn't help but scream into her pillow with all her might to squeeze out all the emotions that were twirling inside her.

After the war ended, Fire Lord Iroh set out on a journey to the Earth Kingdom to negotiate peace treaties and attempt to mend the relations between nations. When he got home, he had with him a troupe of comedians who, in honor of Prince Zuko's birthday, performed Love amongst the Dragons in front of the whole Court.

Mai was old enough now, old enough to understand all the delicate nuances and metaphors of the play, old enough to be married soon, and to be sitting next to Zuko, her prospective fiancé. In the darkness of the gigantic theater, seated in the balcony of the royal family, she watched, at the end of the play, the Dragon Emperor fall into the Empress's arms.

\- Though I was trapped in the body of a mortal, you willingly gave me your heart! I cannot help but give you mine in return!

\- Only with your glory hidden in false form could you finally recognize my devotion!

Tears flowed silently down her cheeks without her being able to stop them, as they confessed their love. Her eyes wandered over the figures of Ty Lee, and beside her Azula. _If I gave you my heart_ , she wanted to ask, _would you treat it gently? Would you give me yours back? Would you recognize my devotion to you?_

No longer able to stand it, she fled from the balcony, holding back her sobs as best she could.

Zuko found her curled up against a wall outside, and he sat down next to her, frowning.

His expression grew even more worried when he saw the sharp knife she held against her chest between her clenched fingers. Slowly, he took her hands in his and gently untied her fingers from the blade, one by one. Then he ripped the hem of the evening robes he was wearing and wrapped the pieces of fabric around Mai's palms, which were bleeding slightly.

She let him do it, but curled up a bit more on herself when he was done. In a small voice, he asked:

\- Are you okay ?

Mai opened her mouth to answer him - maybe snap at him too, she felt some kind of anger when hearing him treat her like a small wounded animal, like a delicate lady in distress - but a new stream of tears prevented her from answering.  
It was just ... too much. She felt too much at once, and she felt like someone was having fun twisting a knife blade stuck in her chest.

She sobbed:

\- Too much ... I can't ... breathe ...

Inside, a voice strangely resembling her mother's was screaming at her to pull herself together, stop crying and put her mask back on. She shouldn't have put on a show like that, she shouldn't have exposed herself like that to the Prince when he was a potential fiancé.

But to her surprise, Zuko leaned over and hugged her, stroking her back and whispering her to inhale and exhale in time with him. Mai's sobs gradually subsided, and she pulled away from him and quickly wiped away her tears before putting on her impassive mask.

Zuko didn't ask for an explanation. Later, they lay down in the grass in Lady Ursa's gardens and watched the moon, the silence of the night only disturbed by the sound of turtleducks in the pond beside them.

Mai, whose heart was still beating wildly, asked:

\- Do you know what happened to Fan?

It was an almost retorious question. Zuko moved next to her, and she guessed he had just shrugged.

\- She went to see her family, right? They needed her, I think.

Mai still felt in her throat the lump that had come with her tears, as if her vocal cords were tied.

She didn't answer. Fan, the royal healer, had not gone to see her family.

Mai remembered the way she took care of Zuko, reminding him to put ointment on his eye, and forced Azula to let herself be treated when she was injured in training. She also remembered the strained smiles she gave when a nobleman tried to woo her, and what Mai had surprised on a summer evening during a nighttime walk.

She was walking through the dark corridors of the palace to clear her mind when she had heard voices. They were passionate whispers, as if two people were arguing in low voices. She had slipped into the shadows and stepped forward to spy on the two people awake at such a late hour.

Behind a column stood Fan, and Ming, the personal bodyguard of Fire Lord Iroh. The two women were very close - too close - and Mai's heart fell in her chest upon seeing them. They were talking animatedly in low voices, and Fan was waving her hands as she said something Mai couldn't hear.

Ming was looking at her with a little pained expression, and had grabbed one of Fan's flying hands to wrap her fingers around it and rest it on her cheek. Fan's gaze had softened, and she had cupped Ming's face in her hands to rest her forehead against hers. They had closed their eyes, and Fan had said something softly to Ming, which had made a single tear drop down her cheek.

The scene was so full of pain, so intimate and tragic, that Mai had taken a step back, overcome by an unknown feeling.

Then Ming had opened her eyes again, and stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on Fan's lips. They had kissed, at first tenderly, then with more and more passion, until their hands were plunged into each other's hair or gripping each other, as if they didn't want the kiss ends, as if it were a farewell. Each time they caught their breath, they whispered to each other what must have been words of love charged with passion.

Mai was so fascinated that she had forgot to breathe.

They were magnificent.

She had never imagined, never dared to think that two women could kiss like that, could love each other like that.

A dull ache was born in her stomach. She wanted this, desperately, more than anything in the world.

But a few months later, at a party for Midsummer, in the ballroom full of nobles and high-ranking guests, which Mai was watching from a hidden balcony, deeply bored, a man had barged in.

Mai hadn't noticed his presence at first. Then she saw him, gesturing furiously beside the Fire Lord, surrounded by guards.

He was roughly holding Fan by the arm, who had an expression of intense distress on her face, and they looked too alike not to be related. His furious exclamations were starting to attract attention, and Fire Lord Iroh, his face straight, motioned for the guards to escort them out of the room through a small door.

Azula had then appeared next to Mai, like an everything-but-human apparition, and grabbed her by the arm.

\- My uncle doesn't want to create a scandal. Come on !

Mai had let herself be drawn into the small hidden corridors of the palace, the ones only the servants used, to a small room, in which Azula had pushed her behind a curtain before gesturing to her to be silent, one finger pressed on her lips.

Fire Lord Iroh had entered seconds later, escorted by the guards and the man, who had brutally thrown Fan to the ground. She had landed on her knees and winced in pain. Everyone had started talking at the same time, until Iroh had motioned for them to stop.

\- Silence !

He had his indecipherable gaze on Fan, who in return had lifted her chin proudly. All traces of her past distress were gone.

\- Fan. You have done a lot for my family, and I thank you for it. That's why I will spare you a trial and the scandal that goes with it. I...

Fan had glared at him, cutting him off.

\- You will spare me a trial ?! Fire Lord, you say this like it's a favor that you are doing me.

Iroh had continued as if nothing had happened.

\- I ban you for breaking the law. You have until tomorrow morning to quietly leave the Palace. I will not blame your family for your fault, and your reputation won't be damaged. This is the best solution for everyone, Fan.

Fan had stood up, but had been held back by guards.

\- The best solution ? The best solution ?! You ban me, order me to leave my homeland and my house, because my only crime is to love differently ?! You know as well as I do that the law is unfair, and you could have changed it! But no, you are not better than your brother!

Fan had closed her eyes for a moment, overcome with sadness, and tears had showed at the corners of her eyes.

Behind the Fire Lord, no one had noticed Ming, who wore such a pained expression that it was painful to look at her.

Finally, Fan had opened her eyes and lifted her chin, tall and proud.

\- I despise you, Fire Lord. You and all those who believe it is honorable to forbid love. You call me degenerate, without morals, but you are the real ones without honor here.

As she let herself be escorted out of the room, Iroh's mask had crumbled and he had closed his eyes, looking pained too. Deep wrinkles marked his face, and he had never looked so old.

Ming, next to him, watched her lover disappear, his eyes shining.

Hidden behind the curtain, Azula and Mai had exchanged a look, and while she had also wanted to cry, she had not been able to read the emotion the Princess' eyes.

She had however seen reappear in Azula's eyes this dangerous spark, this gleam which made her tighten while waiting for the storm to break out, when the princess had dragged her by the hand into the dungeons of the palace. She preferred not to think about what had happened next.

Mai reopened her eyes, which she had closed without realizing it, and quickly wiped away the tears that once again beaded in the corners. She sniffled, in a way that would have shocked her mother, and cleared her throat. She was happy that Zuko, lying next to her, had his eyes fixed on the sky.

Crickets were singing softly in a tree in the garden, and the night was soft and warm, clear enough that they could see the stars easily. Mai was absentmindedly rubbing the makeshift bandage Zuko had made her, wondering how she was going to hide the cuts on her hands, when Zuko spoke, in his hoarse, low voice:

\- May ? Why were you crying?

She wanted not to answer. To let the silence drag and let the melody of the crickets remain the only noise in the garden. Instead, she replied in a flat voice :

\- Because I felt bad, Zuko.

He stirred nervously and she regretted her harsh response. But she thought he had understood after all his years in the intrigues of the Fire Nation Court that his curiosity was often misplaced.

She turned to face him, lying on her side, and pulled a double-bladed knife from her sleeve, which she usually threw like a disc.

With dexterity acquired from years of training and countless cuts on her hands obscured by the fingerless gloves she usually wore, she twirled the knife between her fingers, first slowly and carefully, then more and more quickly, until there was nothing more than a fuzzy gray line between her fingers.

She was aware of Zuko's fascinated gaze on her fingers, so she took the opportunity to ask:

\- Zuko? Do you ever wonder what would have happened if your father hadn't died?

Zuko stiffened, and the knife came to rest abruptly between Mai's fingers. She slid it onto her palm, and with a new snap of the wrist, tucked it into her sleeve. Then she looked up at Zuko.

His eyes were fixed on the starry sky, and his hands were resting on the grass, which he nervously tore out by handfuls.

He had removed the headpiece from his top-knot, which marked his status as Crown Prince, before lying on the ground, and his hair fell freely around his face. Mai detailed his profile, from the small dark hair on his temples to his scar, which she barely saw on the other side of his face.

She knew that he only loosened his hair, that he only showed himself vulnerable in this way when he was around people he trusted. He swallowed, and finally spoke:

\- My father... he planned to banish me after the Agni Kai. I don't know if...

She frowned and put her hand on his to keep him from completely tearing the grass around them.

\- Did Fire Lord Iroh tell you that ?

To her surprise, Zuko turned his hand over and wrapped it around hers. His palm was callused from practicing his dao swords, and it gave off an abnormal heat. He showed no sign that he had just done anything surprising and scowled, answering:

\- He didn't have to. The servants talk.

He hesitated, then continued in an uncertain tone that contrasted with his hoarse voice:

\- Do you think ... that things would have been very different? If my father hadn't died?

Mai moved to be lying on her back again and let her eyes wander over the starry sky, her hand still in Zuko's.

She thought of Azula's anger, which had calmed down after Ozai's death. She thought of the constant fear she and Ty Lee had been in when they were little, visiting the palace and knowing that Ozai, the implacable Fire Lord was around. She thought of Zuko, frail thirteen-year-old Zuko, destroyed by the disappearance of his mother, who survived an Agni kai against his just-killed father, who entered the court after his recovery, with his bandage hiding half of his face and dark circles under his only visible eye. She thought about the way he jumped sometimes, like he was afraid that someone would hurt him again, and the way he, and Azula, and maybe even Mai and Ty Lee and the entire Fire Nation had blossomed after Ozai's death and Iroh's rise to the throne.

She squeezed Zuko's hand between her fingers.

\- I don't know, Zuko.

And for once, she was telling the truth. She had no idea what her life, or Zuko's would have been like, if Ozai hadn't died.

But she was sure of one thing. Azula had made the right choice. She wouldn't let anyone hurt Zuko anymore.

Because Azula might be dangerous, and unpredictable, and someone to be wary of, but Zuko was pure and good and he didn't deserve to be hurt again.

Mai didn’t know what the future holds, but she though she could at least be assured that whatever would happen, it would be because Azula had made it happen - for her brother. And Zuko, deep down, was a special sort of kind that Azula would and had done anything to protect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for Mai's part (for now). I just love Mai and Zuko's relationship so much, I think it's so complicated and so full of potential. Please leave kudos and comments, it gives me life <3


	3. Ty Lee

Ty Lee noticed things.

Most people, when they first met her, the smiling little girl between Azula's cruelty and Mai's constant torpor, underestimated her. They only saw her bubbly, airheaded personality and imagined her head was as empty as the nonsense that escaped her mouth. 

Yet, if they had bothered to listen, they would have learned so much. They spoke freely in front of her, without even thinking that she could listen, and spread their secrets for her attentive ears.

But even without that, she noticed more than most people. It had started during her childhood.

As a little girl, the last of the seven Ty sisters, she had tried in vain to attract the attention of her parents, who neglected her for the more hectic life of the Court or their other children. She knew she could have fought for their attention, shone in the midst of her sisters and become the only one people would think of when talking about the Ty sisters - she felt it inside her, _she could have been so much more than that_ \- but she also knew that her sisters felt the same, and together, they had chosen to each have their own hobby not to be associated with each other.

(She said to herself, with a little pride, that she was still the most successful one, who had climbed the highest, was shining the brightest ; Princess Azula's friend, frequenting the Royal Family, sitting down at the same table as the Fire Lord and sometimes even having a say in important meetings).

Still, at times she couldn't help envying Mai, and her overprotective parents, and even if she knew her friend was suffering from it, she would have given anything to have her own mother take care of her half as much as Mai's did with her daughter.

So yes, she had sometimes learned to fade away, to be there and loud and happy, without really being, until being forgotten. And once she had learned how to properly open her eyes, seeing the auras just got easier.

At Court, at the Royal Fire Academy, even at home, most people had auras that changed from time to time, shimmering in color according to their moods and secrets. Only a few - those with the greater mental toughness, she had quickly figured out - had mostly one-colored auras.

The children had beautiful auras of all colors, in a whirlwind of constantly changing emotions. For a long time, Prince Zuko had had an aura like this.

She had never really considered herself close to him when she was younger. She had always been more of Azula's friend than his, but he was kind, for a prince, even though he seemed to never know how to behave like a normal person and his aura was strange. And Mai liked him, and Azula loved him.

For those reasons, she had been a little sad for him when his magnificent multi-colored aura had turned a dull red when Lady Ursa had disappeared. Lady Ursa, who always had a gentle smile to Ty Lee, as if she really saw her, and whose aura was tinged a worried deep blue just before she disappeared.

General Iroh had been a surprise too, when he had returned from Ba Sing Se with a pristine white aura - and it had taken Ty Lee a moment to realize he was in mourning, for his dead son, a mourning so deep, caused by a heart so broken, that his aura was marked.

Azula's aura was an electric blue, the same color as the flames that rose at the tips of her fingers. It was the most stable aura that Ty Lee had ever seen. And yet… sometimes, in the darkest moments, when Azula's eyes would start to glow dangerously, the vivid blue was pierced with black cracks, which grew larger and larger as the Princess grew older.

That was why she had been so worried during the Agni Kai. She knew how much Azula - and Mai, though the thought rose a hint of something unpleasant in Ty Lee's chest - loved her brother. But after what Fire Lord Ozai had done, Tu Lee couldn't predict Azula's reaction. She was a little sister, but she was also a favored daughter.

When she got up, a day after the Agni Kai, and heard the rumors of what had happened during the night, she couldn't help but rush into Azula's room. She was sitting on her bed, the very image of calm, and meditating, motionless. She had opened her eyes when Ty Lee stormed into her room, and the only sign she needed to guess what had happened was the smirk that stretched across the Princess' lips.

It took a few seconds for Ty Lee to perceive her aura, but she had to suppress an exclamation of surprise when she saw it. The electric blue was pierced with great black cracks, larger than they had ever been.

Ty Lee could have screamed, called for help, or even confided in Azula, but she didn't do anything. She gave Azula a beaming smile, as if nothing had happened, and asked her how she had slept as she dropped to the foot of her bed.

She chose to observe, as she always did, and lied as best she could when answering questions from Commander Haruko and Fan, the healer.

The dangerous spark in Azula's eyes, and with it the cracks in her aura, didn't disappear until long after Zuko awoke and Iroh was crowned Fire Lord. Ty Lee knew that unnerved Mai as much as it made her respect her, and maybe she should have been a little more scared.

A few years later, after the Prince's birthday party, as Mai and Zuko were long gone - and Ty Lee was trying somehow to keep the bad vibes away from her aura, and not listen to the sour remarks of the nobles, who snickered that the Prince and the gloomy girl were gone kissing in a corner - Azula dragged Ty Lee into her room and sat down on her knees behind her. As she combed and braided her hair, Azula said in a dreamy voice:

\- You know, I never properly thanked you for teaching me these chi bending movements. It was so helpful to me when I immobilized him, so he could fell all the pain properly as he died.

An icy shiver ran through Ty Lee when she realized what Azula was implying. Again, she told herself she should have been more scared.

But the thing was, Azula was lighter.

And Ty Lee told herself that Zuko wasn't the only one Ozai had hurt.

Azula was never nice - she still burned those who had wronged her, tortured them in the most and least subtle ways possible, but she moved more easily.

She hovered Zuko with in endearing overprotectiveness, and extended that same courtesy to Mai and Ty Lee too, to a lesser extent.

Ty Lee still remembered the Summer Solstice holiday, when, after a long time she had spent dancing alone with Zuko, Mai and Azula had reappeared, hand in hand. Mai, even though she wasn't showing anything, was shaken, and her eyes were shining as if she had been crying. Azula wore an indecipherable expression.

Later, after they went missing again for a long time, Mai appeared at the door of Ty Lee's bedroom.

Without saying a word, she rushed into the bathroom, and vomited for several minutes, tears running down her cheeks through her makeup. Ty Lee rubbed her back, whispering soothing words to her, and couldn't help but notice the splatter of blood on the hem of Mai's dress.

She never wanted to tell her what had happened, what Azula must have done, but she stayed that night sleeping in Ty Lee's room, which she hadn't done in years.

Mai's aura was also an enigma. It was a dark red, crossed by volutes of a dark purple, which sometimes seemed to take up all the space. It was in her moments that she entrenched herself the most.

Ty Lee sometimes felt like the answer to the riddle was on the tip of her tongue, at hand, and that pissed her off more than any overly heavy suitor.

When she was old enough to make important decisions on her own, shortly after Ozai's death, Ty Lee realized she was suffocating in the Palace. Between all the secrets and masks - even Zuko had lost some of his refreshingly innocence -, and the auras that always seemed to be the opposite of their owners, she had a constant headache, and even her own aura, usually a beautiful bright pink, was starting to get dull.

So she had left Mai a note, packed her bag overnight, and ran away from home without telling her parents.

She imagined it must have come as a surprise to those who knew her.

Ty lee always kept her cards close to her chest — so close, in fact, that people didn't even assume she was hiding anything at all.

(They were wrong, of course. The man sitting on the Fire Nation throne was proof of that.)

Looking back, Ty Lee now knew that joining the circus had been the best decision she had ever made.

She didn't particularly like Shuzumu, the circus ringleader, but she felt like she truly belonged.

Dancing on the rope, alone in the light in front of the amazed spectators sitting in the shadows, she forgot everything, even her name, and when she leapt from trapeze to trapeze gracefully, she would have sworn she could fly.

People traveled from afar to come and see her, the acrobat who seemed to belong to another world, and she visited with the circus places she could never have dreamed of.

She met a myriad of different people, with auras telling sublime stories, which made her crave for even more. Travelers covered in scars but with a smile sparkling like the sun, warriors with ocean-colored eyes, once-noble wanderers, fugitives who like her _saw_ differently, big-hearted thieves, old men who had patiently witnessed kings rising and falling, poets who called her their muse and dedicated their works to her, young people, girls and boys, hungry for life like her, whom she kissed with passion behind the tent of the circus once the show was over and loved for one night.

Here, the rules, the intrigues, the customs didn't matter, and she could be what she wanted, as long as she was happy. No one was going to judge her, compare her to her sisters.

She recounted her adventures to Mai in long letters, to which she often attached a small trinket, a flower found on the road, a seashell picked up on a beach, a ribbon bought in a market full of color, a feather fallen from a blue jay - later she wiped away a tear when she found that Mai had kept them all. To Azula, she would tell about the strange people she passed in her path, like the crazy ruler of Omashu, King Bumi, as she knew that reading her letter would make the Princess sniff contemptuously but that a small smile would nonetheless stretch on her lips.

Ty Lee knew her friends, and she didn't take offense when she received no response for the first few months. Zuko, however, turned out to be a wonderful pen-friend. 

He told her about life at the Palace, from the last law passed by the Fire Lord to the turtle-duck eggs that had just hatched in the gardens.

In return, she quelled his endless curiosity, and answered his questions - and casually asked for news of Mai and Azula.

It had been half a year since she left the palace when she first received a letter from Mai. In it, she didn't ask any questions, didn't inquire about Ty Lee's health, or alluded to previous letters she'd sent her. But she was simply describing a sunset over Caldera city, and for Ty Lee, that was enough. Mai couldn't have sent her a piece of her home otherwise.

Azula didn't answer either, but in places the circus went to, Ty Lee would often meet a governor, guard, or official, who would bow to her and offer her a spicy rice cake, or interfere and help her get rid of an overly pressing suitor, " _from Princess Azula_ ".

And that was enough for Ty Lee to know that the Princess wasn't forgetting her, and that she was looking out for her, in her own way.

Half a year became a whole year, then a year and a half.

And Ty Lee found herself regretting her home. Not the noisy house full of her countless sisters and absent-minded parents, no, but rather the cartwheels around the palace gardens with Azula, and the parties where she forced Zuko to dance with her, and the quiet moments in her room with Mai, who untangled and braided her hair peacefully, both of them breathing in unison. Zuko had stopped responding to her letters, and even though she suspected there was a reason for it, she was considering going home.

And then a new animal arrived at the circus. A magnificent beast, straight out of a legend, long-thought to be extinct. _A sky bison_.

And Ty Lee flinched every time they whipped it to try to tame it, for it was obvious that such an animal belonged to the wide and blue sky, had to be flying freely between the cottony clouds and not parading on a too-narrow circus track, painted and costumed.

And while it obviously had no aura, it was imbued with someone's energy, an energy so pure and strong that it had left its mark on it.

One night, as she finished her act, standing on one hand on a tightrope, a scream echoed through the circus, accompanied by a roar.

Ty Lee froze, precariously balanced. The scream was so full of anger and rage that she was overcome with a shudder of terror.

Then the circus tent caught fire. Ty Lee managed to get out and helped evacuate the spectators, then watched the circus go up in smoke into the night, aware that it was a sign of the spirits. It seemed that this chapter of her life was over.

In the crowd and the screams of people jostling each other fleeing the fire, Ty Lee thought she was the only one to see the silhouette of the sky bison soar towards the stars, a young boy sitting on its back.

She didn't try to catch it. She just smiled and silently wished them luck.

Then she turned on her heels and plunged into the night, thinking of a way to get home.

As she made her way to her tent to collect her things, a shrill and sharp voice rang out behind her.

\- Well, what a blaze.

She immediately turned into a defensive position, and jumped on her assailant. She almost knocked Azula down by the force of her hug. Behind her, in the shade of a tent, she caught sight of the golden eyes of Zuko, half concealed under the hood of his cloak, and Mai, whose impassive face was lit by the glow of the flames of the circus.

She only released Azula to look at her, and smiled when she saw her wearing neutral clothes, obviously to be incognito. Behind Mai, she saw guards, as motionless as statues.

She almost couldn't believe it. 

_Her friends had come to get her ! They hadn't forgot her !_

In her chest, a fear she didn't know existed immediately vanished. The spirits had decidedly shown their will in her destiny.

As she babbled about her latest adventures to Azula, she let herself be drawn to their cart, in turn pulling Mai and Zuko by the hand.

Everything was fine, after all. She was going to go home, with her friends, and her aura had never been so pink, as was Mai's, even though she tried to hide it. Prince Zuko was trying to suppress a smirk as Ty Lee showered his sister with words, but the dangerous spark in Azula's eyes was gone - making it easier for Ty Lee to feel like she could smile to her, hug her, help her.

It was a good look on her. Ty Lee hoped she stayed this way.

Fire Lord Ozai had been a test, a necessary sacrifice on the road to happiness for them.

As Iroh said, _they weren't always able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but they had kept moving, and come to a better place._

Now all they had to do was keep moving. And Ty Lee would make sure they do.

Even if for that she had to help spill blood again.


	4. Azula

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning : torture and murder I guess ?

Azula had never been afraid to kill a man.

It seemed so easy, when she thought about it. Two fingers pressed quickly in strategic places to immobilize, a quick stab in the chest or throat. A spray of fire in the face. Or just a delicate lightning bolt entering the water when the target was submerged in it. Fast, efficient.

It was like planning a military maneuver, or an elaborate dance. You had to take into account your own strength, environment, and the movements of your dance partner. Delicate, but oh so satisfying when done well.

She had planned to take down Azulon herself when he had ordered Father to kill Zuko. She had always held him in high esteem, but no one touched her brother. But before, she had gone to Zuko's room to check on him until Mother arrived and watched him herself.

She had been surprised - but not in a bad way - when Mother had come only to stroke Zuko's hair tenderly and whisper an apology to him.

Maybe it was because loving Zuko was just like that. She didn't think Mother had it inside her, but the next morning Azulon was dead and she was gone.  
She knew Mother thought she was a monster, and maybe was afraid of her too. But it was utterly stupid to think of it that way. Azula was many things, not one.

She was a firebending prodigy, she was a Fire Nation princess, blessed by Agni, she was Zuko's sister and protector, and, to a lesser extent, the daughter of Ozai and Ursa. She wasn't necessarily good - she didn't bow to the disgusting values some good souls held, like the ancient Air Nomads, which required turning the other cheek when hit and crawling through mud without dignity so as not to hurt another human being - but neither was she necessarily evil.

Questionable, of course. Controversial, perhaps. (Forgettable, _never._ ) But bad? Not at all.

After all this time in court, Mother should have known that the world wasn't just white or black. And maybe Azula was a gray a bit darker than the others, but a monster? _Tsss_.

Most people, when confronted to power, only had one of two responses : fear or greed. Either they ran from it, or wanted it for themselves. But fear and greed were two intrinsically linked things, like the two sides of a coin, which went always together. The greatest rulers were the one who saw the necessity of balancing them delicately, which Azula prided herself of doing. 

(Threaten their children, show them the full extent of your power, but also make them dream, promise them a better life, _give them hope._ )

Power was a small weighing scale, carved from fine, precious metal, and fear and greed were the weights on the panels, which swayed gently. Allowing one to gain an advantage over the other only led to mistakes. Fear was a powerful ally, but feed it too often, make it too strong, and it would turn on you.

Put greed away, and you were overcome with fear and no longer knew how to think, no longer had something to make you raise up in the morning and move forward, you waved on a whim and you invariably stumbled. Iroh, when Lu Ten died, had made this mistake. Instead of burning Ba Sing Se to the ground, and thus teaching the Earth Kingdom what happened when they touched a member of the Fire Nation Royal Family, he had collapsed, and had come home the tail between the legs.

Put fear away, and you forgot where you came from, who you were, what linked you to your land where the blood of your ancestors had flowed for millennia. Father had tried to banish his feelings in this way, to keep his heart empty and cold if it wasn't for his search for power. He had forgotten that they were beings of fire, in which beat this primary instinct of survival, inherited from generations of warriors. He had ignored the animal fear that made them turn and look behind them with worry, and urged them to run away, to run without stopping until they were safe, that urge which saved them.

Mother, brought up in a place where constantly changing masks was a gift, and married in a palace where being impassible a necessity, had not known how to balance the weighting scale, either.

Azula would have wanted to lecture her, like to a little girl who had done something stupid. If she had stopped to think for a second, she would have eliminated Father instead of Grandpa. Or she would have taken Zuko with her into the night to protect him.

(Not Azula. Azula didn't matter. Not as much as Zuko, at least).

Azula herself had almost lost her footing several times.

( _Maybe it ran in the family, after all._ )

Sometimes, when she was training, in one of the courtyards of the Palace, she felt like she was standing on the edge of a dark precipice. There, surrounded by her blue lightnings, which swirled around her like a tornado, she wondered what would happen if she let herself fall, if she leaned forward and stopped gripping the edge with her toes.

People had already fallen into it, she knew that. Iroh, Zuko maybe even Mai and Ty Lee.

But they had all landed, more or less graciously, at the end of their fall. She wasn't sure she would find anything down there. Maybe she would just keep falling into that endless pit until she was just a forgotten shadow, a cry in the dark.

Zuko, Iroh, they had all been brought to the surface by a luminous soul (each other, in this case), who had pulled them out of the darkness and welcomed them into the warmth of their arms. Even Mai clung desperately to Ty Lee, like a castaway to a piece of driftwood in the middle of the ocean. But Azula wasn't sure there would be someone for her.

After all, she had killed with her own hands the one person she was favorite of. Zuko had always had Mother, Lu Ten had Iroh. And even with Father, she had always been alone.

_They called her prodigy, for she felt the call of fire in her veins, for she laughed when other children cried during storms, when lightning tore the sky._

(She didn't try to correct them, to tell them it was only a family trait, as Zuko trained with his dao blades in the shadows when he thought no one could see him.)

But she had trained alone, for hours and hours, in the gardens of the Palace, until she no longer felt her fingers, and her little child's body collapsed to the ground, broken with fatigue, with hair tangled by static and shortness of breath. Always alone, Azula the liar.

And maybe Ty Lee didn't realize it yet, but Azula knew that between her and Mai, she would always choose Mai. Seeing the tortured looks they gave each other when they thought the other couldn't see was enough to know. Azula, in a way, wished she could experience this kind of love. It looked painful, but also so alive. And it would surely be a most entertaining spectacle when Mai and Ty Lee would realize that their love was mutual.

Sometimes... Sometimes, despite the faith she had in herself, the fragile scale where was balanced her fear and her greed would start to oscillate. In those moments, she felt like standing on the deck of a boat in the middle of a storm, with waves of emotions and adrenaline taking turns overwhelming her, as the deck swayed beneath her feet.

She made mistakes at those times.

She was teetering, on the brink of the abyss, and she could have sworn she could feel her lightning bolts in her veins. So nothing mattered anymore. No more balance, no more self-control. Of course, everything remained hidden behind the mask that she had forged herself from an early age. But that didn't stop her from acting without thinking, carried away by the devastating energy she felt swirling inside her.

(And she wondered what would happen if she let everything let loose. When the voices of Lo and Li echoed through the huge Palace courtyard to introduce her, when thousands of people bowed down on their knees before her, blessed by the spirits, she reveled, she savored their veneration, their boundless admiration and unfailing devotion. Perhaps she was more like Mother than she thought : it seemed to her that she loved being on stage as much as Ursa did).

This had only happened a few times, however. The first time with Father, when he had touched her precious brother.

Sitting in the Agni Kai arena, next to Iroh, Azula was literally fuming as she waited for the fight to begin. Despite her young age, she knew Father was making a mistake. They were the Royal Family, they had to present a united front before the noble-vultures of the Court. He should never have let his general punish, challenge the crown prince in that way.

Then Father entered the arena, shirtless. And only Iroh's hand, resting on her wrist to stop her, had prevented Azula from throwing herself in front of him to protect Zuko.

She despised Uncle Iroh, always had. Even now, she only left him on the throne because she knew he would watch over Zuko and her. She found him weak, filled with good feelings and apologies, but she had let him hold her back.

Teeth clenched, she had endured Father's pathetic reprimand, Zuko's cries and pleas, then the silence, worst of all, when her brother fell to the ground, overcome with pain. When she left the arena, flanked by her attendants, she had only then noticed the scorched marks on her dress, left by her clenched hands.

She was not a prodigy for nothing. Throughout the rest of the day, of dinner - which she had eaten alone with her father, the painful absence of Iroh and Zuko as a constant reminder of what had happened - her mind had bubbled with ideas, as she was making a plan behind her carefully placed mask.

At night, she had acted mechanically, a shadow moving in the secret passages and on the roofs of the Palace. Mai's knives. Ty Lee's chi bending techniques. Father's personal quarters.

He was asleep when she slipped into his room, but four quick hits in specific places to immobilize him had woken him up.

He had widened his eyes when he saw her, and he had scolded :

\- Azula ...

A shiver had run through Azula. Deep inside her, despite the determination she felt, there was still a little girl frightened by her father's outbursts of anger.

He had tried to move, in vain, and she had put a finger to her lips to silence him.

\- Hush, Father. You wouldn't want to alert the guards.

Fire Lord Ozai, son of Azulon, grandson of Sozin, probably would have wanted to say something grandiose, or at least striking, before his death.

But Azula didn't listen to rats.

The only last words he could utter turned into a bloody gurgling sound as she stabbed him in the chest.

One, two, five times, until she lose count.

When her dark work was done, she quickly wiped the blade of the knife on the precious silk sheets of the bed and left the same way she had entered, leaving behind her father's still corpse.

She was not afraid of being caught. She knew how to lie better than anyone, and she had managed to deceive the Commander and Fan, the healer, who had been in charge of the investigation. They had done a good job, she owed them that. But she was always better.

And even if they had caught her, well ... King-slayer, patricide, made some interesting titles to add to her name.  
(Zuko had asked only once about his father. _Azula lied._ )

The second time she had let herself be carried away by her fury was with Mai.

It wasn't so much Fan's banishment that had impacted her. She wasn't particularly close to the healer, and although Iroh had many flaws, he was down to earth, just like Azula.

A scandal would have tasted bad in these hazardous times, and it was still too early to change the law on same-sex relationships. The new Fire Lord still needed the support of the generals and advisers of the old regime, who would surely be dead by the time Zuko took the throne. There, then, they could change things.

But she had seen the tears in Mai's eyes as they spied the scene. And it hit her like a shot of electricity. Because Mai didn't cry. Never. Under any circumstances.

So she had dragged Mai into the underground passages of the Palace, where the dungeons were, after issuing an order to a guard. After returning to the party to make an appearance, they had descended into the bowels of the volcano on which Caldera was built, two shadows slipping hand in hand through the night.

(Azula liked it. In the heart of the earth, no one could hear the screams.)

Mai stifled a cry as she entered the cell. There, flanked by guards loyal to Azula, tied up and his feet submerged in water, was the man who had sold Fan. The one who had rudely interrupted the party to talk to Iroh; her stepfather, apparently.

The guards she had sent to fetch him had been ordered to manhandle him as much as possible, but he was still conscious. His head hung on his chest, but he lifted it up and began in a pleading voice:

\- Princess Azula, please forgive me, I-

Azula paid no attention to his ramblings and took a knife from her pocket, which she handed to Mai.

\- Would you do the honours ?

Mai had made no move to take it, her gaze slipping from Azula to the knife several times, as if she didn't know what to do. Annoyed by her lack of reaction and the man's pleas, Azula snapped:

\- You should cut his tongue first.

As if suddenly cut out of a dream, Mai jumped and grabbed the knife. With a graceful, almost lazy movement, Azula reached out to the water at the man's foot and sent a lightning bolt there.

He let out a howl that echoed through the cell, but no one flinched.

A malicious smile spread across Azula's lips.

\- Now let's teach him what happens when men do something that doesn't please us.

And they did. And if they unleashed suffering and pain that night, if they sliced flesh and tore limbs, if they projected on the black walls of the cell blue reflections, fruits of flames and lightning, if Mai sketched a smile when Azula whispered in her ear, both of them covered in warm blood, " _I know you like it when men beg_ ", if finally, the man collapsed to the ground, begging to be killed, voice broken by his howls, as the sun rose - and with it all the children of Agni - on Caldera City, then only the spirits of the poor souls who had been there before him and now haunted the dungeons witnessed it.

At breakfast, when Iroh gave her a disapproving look, but said nothing, she just answered him with an innocent little smile.

She didn't care that he didn't like her methods, as long as he didn't try to stop her. The same was true of her spies. He preferred to call them her intelligence agents, but the meaning was the same.

Growing up, she had realized the impact that Zuko had on people. They feared her, but they loved Zuko. He was awkward, and passionate about some bizarre topics, but he also had a strong sense of justice - which had cost him his eye - and he would have done anything to protect the people of the Fire Nation.

Qualities of a true Fire Lord, a small, mean voice whispered deep inside Azula.

She had therefore resigned herself not to ascend the throne (which also would have required to get rid of Zuko, the heir).

She would be the shadow of the flame that was Zuko, always behind him, watching his back and over him. She swore it to herself.

She had therefore woven a network of agents who were loyal to her, all over the world. In addition to the role of military leader and diplomat that she provided as a member of the royal family, she had dotted the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes with spies in her pay, who reported daily to her and informed her of the smallest deeds and actions of other leaders.

Her spiderflies, as she liked to call them, were devoted to her until death, master spies that would have been so useful to her if she had had them before. If she could have been aware of Father's intentions regarding Zuko's Agni Kai, or the dangers that plagued Lu Ten in Ba Sing Se, perhaps things could have been different.

Iroh, even though he had his own intelligence network, along with his little Pai Sho friends, disapproved of her actions. Azula thought she made him uncomfortable, in a way, as her agents weren't afraid to do whatever it took to get the information they needed, weren't afraid to go to the darkest places, teeming with only the worst scums of mankind. Not the kind of place where you would find tea rooms and lotus tiles.

He didn't say that expressly, of course. But sometimes he made sure to keep her away, or at least not to inform her about sensitive cases - the kind that Zuko and the Court were not aware of - to protect her, he said.

Azula was seething with anger at such times. _Have I not proven myself_ , she wanted to spit ? _Didn't I get rid of him, when you were too cowardly to do it ? Am I still for you the little girl who is offered a doll instead of a knife ?_

So when, at the dawn of a spring day, while she was going to the ramparts of the Palace to receive reports from her spiderflies, she was surprised to see a messenger hawk arrive with a bright blue ribbon. Information of the utmost importance.

A few minutes later, she burst into the Palace dining room, the letter still in her hand.

Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko, seated around the table, looked up at her in surprise. She paid no attention to them and came to stand in front of Iroh, who was having breakfast at the end of the table.

Quickly, she grabbed a knife and stuck it forcefully into the table over the letter she had just put down.

\- I really hope that's a mistake.

Behind him, Ming, his bodyguard, tensed, ready to step in, but Iroh gave no sign that he felt threatened. Slowly, he took a sip of his tea, before answering, without looking up at Azula:  
\- I see that you are still well-informed, my niece.

Azula snorted disdainfully. When she answered, her voice was shaking a bit.

\- Don't try to flatter me. You can't let them come here ! It would put us all in danger !

Iroh carefully put down his cup of tea and began to cut the pastry that was on his plate. He still hadn't met Azula's gaze.

\- The Anniversary of the End of the War is an important day, Azula. This year, it will be seven years since we ended this senseless violence and began the peace negotiations - and you know the importance of that number. It only makes sense that...

Azula bit back a cry of frustration and cut him off instead:

\- You can't ! Welcome these... these criminals ...

Iroh slowly chewed up his pastry before answering.

\- I know that bothers you. But I assure you that everyone's safety will be our priority during this meeting.

\- But-

For the first time, Iroh looked up at her and frowned.

\- Azula, the leaders of other nations will come to celebrate the seventh Anniversary of the End of the War here, with their families, whether you like it or not. The invitations have already been sent, and we will all make an effort to at least be civil to each other, despite the complicated past that may exist between us. And you will stay in your place.

As she met Iroh's eyes, surrounded by wrinkles, identical to Father's, and his last sentence echoed in the silent room, a memory flashed in Azula's mind.

She saw Father again, towering over a kneeling Zuko, uttering in a terrifying voice.

_You will learn respect. Suffering will be your teacher._

Her eyes widened and she took an involuntary step back. 

(For a second, she had forgotten who she was talking to. The Fire Lord. She wasn't Zuko. She shouldn't, couldn't allow herself to be so insolent with him.)

Iroh seemed to realize that he had made a mistake. He reached out to take her hand.

\- Azula...

But she was already running away from the room. The letter of her spy clenched in her fist, she ran outside, ignoring Zuko's worried gaze.

It didn't matter, after all. Iroh could receive all the Chiefs of the Water Tribes, and all the Kings of the Earth, and all the war criminals of the world if he liked it. He could bow to them to coax them and behave like a senile old man, she wouldn't stop him.

But neither would she forget that they were inviting their enemies into their home, like a naive phoenix opening its nest to a wolf. And she would remain on her guard at all times to watch over Zuzu.

If they thought they could hurt her precious little brother again, they were wrong. She would reserve to them the same fate as for Father, she would burn the whole world for him.

Yes, she would protect him again, even if that was the last thing she had to do.

In her clenched fist, the letter burst into flames, and bluish flames slowly consumed the wanted notices the spy had joined with it.

Azula didn't even notice the blaze as a dangerous spark reappeared in her gaze. On the burning parchments, the drawn faces of the warriors who would be present during the seventh Anniversary of the End of the War slowly shriveled, ablaze, until they were nothing more than almost-unrecognizable grimacing monsters.

Behind Azula, Zuko, who had followed her without her noticing, watched them burn, a worried expression on his half-burnt face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last chapter of this work, but not the last chapter of the story. I will soon post the next part of it, that will concentrate on Katara and Sokka (who in this universe are much more dark, and maybe a bit evil ?) and the rest of the gaang  
> However, Azula, Zuko and the rest of the Fire gang (Is that a thing ?) will come back letter and interact and meet Aang and the others, because if they don't where is the fun ?  
> Thank you so much for all of your comments and kudos so far, as well as just your reading of my story ! I'm kinda excited for the rest because we will really start deeping into the cool (dark ?) stuff  
> I hope you enjoyed reading me !

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by @blueskittlesart wonderful art on Tumblr (go check it out)  
> https://blueskittlesart.tumblr.com/post/628349147579285504/azula-always-lies-saw-this-post-by  
> who we itself inspired by @heavenly-dusk  
> https://heavenly-dusk.tumblr.com/post/189668423522/ozai-dies-while-zuko-is-still-in-recovery-the
> 
> Don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it, and leave kudos and comments pleeeease (it warms my cold dead heart)


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